Yes, postpone. If not for the adults, for the child. Why traumatize a child with such pain? I’ve actually felt this with a bad cold. It’s excruciating and traumatizing, and why? What could have been that important? If the parents had asked the doctor, the advice would probably have been to postpone or cancel the trip.

Not true on babies. They cry to communicate, since it’s the only way they have. As a result, quite often quiet down pretty soon after they get what they want—the bottle, to be held, the diaper change etc. Your job as a parent is to figure out what that is and provide it. Granted, if what the baby wants is to be off…

So here’s the problem. Twenty years ago, parents had the skills to raise kids that weren’t awful to be around. Today, they don’t. Why this is, I don’t know, but as someone in my 50s, the downslide in parenting skills among the general public is inescapably evident. It’s frustrating to watch, as you see a screaming…